February 2020

A popular hiking trail though Zion National Park remains open to the public thanks to a $1.5 million deal negotiated by the Trust for Public Lands and funded by the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), a federal program that uses offshore oil and g …

Activists in Kanab successfully beat back a plan by Southern Red Sands, LLC to open a 13,000-acre frac sand strip mine 10 miles north of town. The company had planned to start operations on land leased from the Utah State and Institutional Trust Lands …

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Price Field Office is planning to jack up recreation fees in order to maintain facilities and build new campgrounds. If approved, the per person fee for Desolation Canyon rafting would go from $25/person to $50/perso …

At the request of the Utah Legislature, the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah has prepared a report on strategies to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions in Utah. The report notes that mountain topography and popula …

At total of 20 Utah communities have committed to 100% renewable energy by 2030 under Utah’s Community Renewable Energy Act (2019). The Act set a deadline of December 2019 for communities served by Rocky Mountain Power to adopt a renewable energy goal …

WildEarth Guardians and Physicians for Social Responsibility filed a lawsuit in January to challenge 2,067 oil and gas leases on 2 million acres of federal land in Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. The lawsuit says that the BLM approved …

The Trump admiration is trying to gut the law that puts the “public” in public lands management. The National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) is the foundation of environmental protection and public participation in public lands management. It …

Lawsuits are moving forward to restore two Utah national monuments downsized by President Trump in 2017. Last October, the Trump administration tried and failed to dismiss the lawsuits without a trial. In January 2020, The Tribal and Environmental grou …

Kerry Case is the new Chief Sustainability Officer at the University of Utah. Case has led sustainability initiatives at Westminster College for 13 years and is ready to take on a job with the potential for larger impacts. With more than 20,000 employe …

It’s time again for Utahns to gather in the name of clean air. Our goal is to help 2,000 attendees discover new tools and skills that will result in better air quality for all — and to inspire us to choose cleaner air options in our daily lives. We rea …

Feb 1  Average temps today: high 39º, low 25º. Sunrise: 7:24am. Sunset: 5:59pm. Feb 2  Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, live in Utah. The most common of the many species here is the yellow-bellied marmot. Their tunneling prowess is renowned, with …

Osho Zen Tarot:  Clinging to the Past, Maturity, Celebration Medicine Cards: Buffalo, Butterfly Mayan Oracle: Universal Movement, Harmonic Resonance, Organic Balance Ancient Egyptian Tarot:  Prince of Disks, The World, Six of Disks Aleister Crowley Dec …

If I had made any, most of my New Year’s resolutions would be dust by now. Resolutions sound too certain when most of the world is mostly conflicted and unresolved. I’ll limit my new decade bloviating to predictions. They are easy because you can claim …

You won’t see them on Instagram. There are so many other backbends that look way more impressive on a sunset-drenched beach. In fact, they may barely register as backbends when you look at the outer form. Indeed, they are called “baby” backbends, sugge …

If you go down to the Rose Wagner late on a Saturday morning, you can feel the vibration of African drums in the soles of your feet as soon as you walk through the door.  Inside the studio where the African dance class meets, drummers are pounding out …

Nature has some answers for the season of colds and bad air. Can’t kick the cough? Chances are you’re one of many Wasatch Front residents struggling to breathe easy with poor air quality, wintertime inversion, and the daily battle of cold and flu seaso …

Doing your part to improve Utah’s air just got easier thanks to Tier 3 gasoline Over the last several years we’ve been hearing a lot about Tier 3 gasoline. It should play an important role in cleaning up air pollution coming from passenger cars and tru …

From PM10s to ultrafines, what particulate matter comes down to From the beginning of time, humans have lived with air pollution. With the discovery of fire we began to poison ourselves and each other. The air in the cave where a saber toothed tiger ha …

Here’s a peek at some environmental-related bills The end of January hails the beginning of the Utah state legislative session. For 45 days, till mid-March, 75 state legislators and 29 state senators are gathered on Salt Lake City’s Capitol Hill to con …

Try something new and unusual in your garden this year! It’s a great time to be a human on planet Earth. Never before have we had so much access to so many new potential experiences. Each year in the garden, I love experimenting with new plants; novel …

Survival and security Location: near the base of the spine, in the perineum. Governs: our understanding of the physical world. Main issue: survival and security. Externalizes: as the adrenal gland. Element: Earth. When balanced: we feel grounded. Color …

And U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin should study morals. Last month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, in response to a reporter’s question about whether Greta Thunberg’s proposal to end fossil fuel investment would threaten U.S. economic …

I think there’s a trap in loving that empty western possibility, especially when you don’t live in it all the time. That’s part of the deepening divide between urban and rural areas, and it’s tied to how water is used. By being there, you’re changing i …